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1420 COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY nature. I might add that he knows less about underground work than my 6-year-old girl. Mr. Tavenner. Will you describe to the committee just what the activities of Lawrence were, as far as you know ? Mr. Ashe. At a later elate he was put in charge of Hollywood ac- tivity, organizing the party in studios, with particular emphasis on professionals in the studios—the writers, the actors, and so forth. This took the form originally, I believe, of studio study clubs. I know Mr. Lawrence used to come down to the headquarters of the party and depart with two or three hundred dollars' worth of books, cloth-bound books, every week. Mr. Tavenner. The investigation conducted by the committee dis- closes that V. J. Jerome came to Hollywood at the time that Stanley Lawrence was still here. Mr. Ashe. Well, as I remember it, Stanley Lawrence made a very observing remark which, however, the comrades resented very much. I think he said—in the presence of some of the studio comrades, I think he made the observation that the people in Hollywood, including the comrades, were "only fat cows to be milked." Of course, at that time the party had quite a few good-looking milkmaids. This resulted in his ultimate removal, and Mr. Jerome succeeded to that position. I first met Mr. Jerome in about, oh, I would say June or July of 1936. He was here coincidental with Earl Browder. He didn't come with Earl Browder but he arrived while Earl Browder was here, and I was the first person that Jerome contacted. Mr. Tavenner. Before proceeding further with the development of Communist activities in Hollywood proper, I would like for you to state what your first assignment was after joining the party, other than having to do with the work of recruiting within the Socialist Party. Mr. Ashe. After I came back from the national convention of the Communist Party in Cleveland, which was early in 1934, my first as- signment was to the International Workers' Order. This assignment was given to me by Elmer Hanoff, the county organizer of the Com- munist Party. I did not solicit the assignment from the International Workers' Order. I want that to be explicitly understood. In other words, I went in there on the instructions of the Communist Party, and I was accepted by the IWO as their organizer on the representa- tion of the Communist Party that I was suitable for the work. Mr. Tavenner. Do you know whether or not this was the beginning of the work of the International Workers' Order in California? Mr. Ashe. The International Workers' Order was already well organized when I went into it. They had, I would say, 12 or 15 lodges, and most of them—in fact, all of them save one—were foreign- language lodges. Mr. Tavenner. Well, if you received your appointment and direc- tions through the Communist Party, was it your opinion and conclus- ion at that time that it was an organization dominated and controlled by the Communist Party? Mr. Ashe. The International Workers' Order was controlled lock, stock, and barrel by the Communist Party and was so known. Mr. Tavenner. Do you consider it a part of the Communist move- ment?